The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Nandina, botanically known as Nandina domestica, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Colerno.
The new Nandina is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventors in San Antonio, Tex. The objective of the breeding program was to create new Nandinas with unique leaf color. The new Nandina originated from a self-pollination of plants of an unnamed selection of Nandina domestica.
The cultivar Colerno was discovered and selected by the Inventors as a single plant within a population of progeny plants in a controlled environment in San Antonio, Tex. in June, 1991. The selection of this plant was based on its unique and long-lasting dark red purple-colored young foliage in contrast to the typical green-colored young foliage of the other progeny plants.
Asexual reproduction of the new Nandina by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in San Antonio, Tex. has shown that the unique features of this new Nandina are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.